Throwback Thursday: This Time Last Year

Throwback Holiday Card - Circa 2011

2013

Hi all,

As the end of the year is approaching, I thought it would be fun to take a look back at 2013.

Throughout 2013, noHold (with the influence of our customers) has focused on many different facets of the business. Towards the middle of the year, we officially launched the premiere of our updated website, www.nohold.com, and also announced our newest Knowledge Management platform, SICURA™, designed to augment our products portfolio. SICURA™ provides a better way to organize, store, and share information, securely. 

Our customers have expressed more interest in eCommerce, and focusing on ways to increase sales for companies in brick and mortar stores as well as online. eCommerce made quite an impression this year and is expected to continue to grow. SalesAdvisor™ makes it easier for companies to provide exceptional customer service, while providing support. Simple QR codes placed on the packaging of an item serve as a Virtual Agent that shows up on your smart phone and answers any questions you have regarding the product and ratings; and provides the end customer with limited time coupons and ability to share the experience via social media.  Virtual Agents enhance self-service and are quickly becoming a preferred interaction channel. 

This year, our customers have shown more interest in the integration of Virtual Agents to augment Salesforce.com. In particular, the Virtual Agent enhances Salesforce.com in five ways: 1) Integrates with Salesforce Knowledge, 2) Escalates to leads, 3) Pre-empts live chat, 4) Escalates to case, and 5) Provides personalized responses, all in an interactive and diagnostic experience. To get more information on augmenting Salesforce.com with a Virtual Agent  click here. 

Next year is going to be another busy year for noHold. Stay tuned for more details about how Virtual Agents play a role in the Internet of Everything (IoE) next year. 

Happy Holidays!

Throwback Thursday: Best Practices for Troubleshooting

Happy Throwback Thursday!

A recent deployment of a Virtual Agent integrating with a troubleshooter got me thinking about the progression of troubleshooting and how it has enhanced over the years.

Circa 2010, noHold created a modem troubleshooting Virtual Agent that  incorporated the knowledge from top modem providers...a sort of all in one Virtual Agent. It would be a place for consumers to go to find problems with any of their devices. This product was directed toward telecommunication companies by providing them with a way to support their consumers know matter what company their modem is from. For example, if someone is having a problem with their modem, they can type to the Virtual Agent, "I am having problems with my modem," and the Virtual Agent would respond with a list of modem brands for you to pick the correct model. This Modem Troubleshooter was made possible by Confederated Knowledge. Here is a screenshot of the modem troubleshooter powered by noHold.

In today's market, a global leader providing digital products, services and solutions, including industry-leading laptops, tablets, HDTVs, Blu-ray Disc™ and media streaming products and much more integrated Virtual Agent technology with their troubleshooting solution.  

The Challenge: The company built a flash troubleshooting solution, but noticed many users abandoned the tool, and they did not know why.

The Answer:  A Virtual Agent!  They added an “Other” option to the flash troubleshooter where end users can type in the issue in their own terms.  This launches the virtual agent, which can report on the user queries AND provide solutions.

Here's a sample of how the troubleshooter offers the Virtual Agent as an option.

Whether a Virtual Agent is being used as a troubleshooter or a compliment to leverage troubleshooting, it is a great asset to any company's customer support program. 

Cheers!

Throwback Thursday: The Advancement of Back-End Technology

This week I found a screenshot of one of the first administrative dashboards for a noHold Virtual Agent. As you can see to the right, noHold's "portal manager" was the place an administrator would visit to learn more about customer interactions with the Virtual Agent. The "portal manager" provided metrics to administrators that could be leveraged to augment customer satisfaction.

Knowledge Management has come a long way since the beginning of noHold. Companies now have the capability to gain more knowledge about their consumers and provide better service because of it. There are default metrics that companies can look at (effectiveness, abandonment, escalation, etc.) and they can also create custom reports. For example, a leader in the PC industry utilizing a customer-facing Virtual Agent is interested in custom reports by region. Being able to look at specific factors that are effecting support while getting closer to the end user experience is a major asset to building a stronger customer relationship. 

Another function for administrators that has evolved and become increasingly important is having open API's. With API's, administrators have complete control of the User Interface (UI) as well as integration with a myriad of 3rd party systems. This function gives companies the freedom to create seamless experiences while positioning the Virtual Agent in a way that complements corporate branding.  

Happy Throwback Thursday!

noHold Customers Ranked Higher in Customer Satisfaction!

Clients leveraging Virtual Agent technologies for customer self-service (such as Webroot and AVG) lead the security software industry in customer satisfaction, with Net Promoter Scores (NPS) of 59% and 33%. The graph shown below is courtesy of Webroot, a leader in the security software industry and was featured on the homepage of their website; http://www.webroot.com/us/en/  

Congratulations to Webroot and AVG for outperforming the competition in customer satisfaction. Kudos!

Throwback Thursday: How noHold Virtual Agents Were Born

This week I wanted to share a story about how noHold Virtual Agents were born...

Before noHold, the CEO founded another start-up company called STEFRA(TM), which helped create the concept for noHold. STEFRA(TM) was working with multiple consumer electronic companies, including the leading provider of personal computer and tablet accessories. (Remember the golf ball webcam?) STEFRA provided software included in these products. They began to receive lots of calls/emails regarding frequently asked support questions. The wheels started turning and that is where Diego Ventura thought of the idea for automating online customer support. Developing something similar to live chat, but instead customers interact with Artificial Intelligence. With this idea, STEFRA(TM) was able to start providing Virtual Agent technology for video software. Below is a picture of the first STEFRA(TM), prototype Virtual Agent.

Today, Virtual Agents have gained major popularity with consumers. Online self-service is what people demand and they are feeling more comfortable interacting with Virtual Assistants. Think about Siri or IBM's Watson...in this era people are interacting with Artificial Intelligence daily!

Happy Throwback Thursday!

The Future of Self-Service in the Financial Industry

Self-service is all around us. From the self checkout kiosks in the grocery store, to the self check-in terminals at the airport; even restaurants are turning to tablets for order fulfillment. The truth is, consumers prefer self service. According to NCR, which makes self-service technology, 85% of consumers prefer brands that offer several forms of self-service: online, at kiosks and via mobiles, etc. (www.economist.com, 2009). When it comes to the web, leading analyst firm Gartner predicted that in 2012, “By 2014, 50% of online customer self-service search activities will be via a Virtual Assistant (VA) for at least 1,500 large enterprises.” (Source: Gartner Predicts 2012: CRM Customer Service and Support Staggers in the Posthuman Age, Jacobs, J.)

One Fortune 500 organization reports that more than 70% or customers stated that the support site is their first stop, before other support channels such as phone support. More customers engage with online support offerings and spend more time navigating through support pages with a greater success rate in finding what they are looking for.

Statistics gathered by Gartner, in August 2013 are shown in the graph below. The data represents bank channel usage by country and preferred channel. To get direct insight into consumer behaviors and attitudes around financial services, Gartner conducted consumer research in 9 countries. Visits to banking channels via PC represent the most popular channel for accessing accounts. “Despite this higher level of branch use in emerging markets, the pattern across all countries surveyed is consistent, with a substantial drop-off in branch frequency compared with digital channels for routine banking activities (such as checking a bank balance, initiating a bank transfer or obtaining the answer to a query). Adjusting to this shift effectively is critical for retail banking organizations and the IT teams that support them.” (Source: Gartner: Bank Customers Still Love Branches, but Just Don't Use Them as Much. David Schehr, August 2013.)

Accessing accounts online via PC represents the most popular interaction channel. Responding to queries online (via self-service) should be a high priority for financial institutions.

Source: Gartner (August 2013)

Virtual Personal Assistants Shine a Spotlight on Virtual Agents


According to a blog shared by Kate Leggett, Forrester Research, "Customers today are trained to go online to get answers to their questions by navigating a company’s FAQ list, or by typing in keywords to surface the right piece of content. In fact, 66% of customers use this channel. But at 51%, the satisfaction ratings for this channel are the lowest of all the communication channels that Forrester tracks. It's because keeping content in line with customer demand and making it easily accessible to customers is very hard to do. Enter the world of virtual agents. These solutions use natural language processing and artificial intelligence to greet a customer and to serve up the right answer to their question, which is asked using a customer's natural speech pattern, not just keywords. These answers could be a straightforward response, knowledge base content, data (like ‘Did my check clear?’), or the result of a transaction (like ‘Book me on the next flight home out of San Francisco’). With the right tuning and integration to back-end systems, virtual agents are able to personalize and contextualize customer interactions.” Gartner predicts that "Virtual personal assistant usage in business will grow more quickly in 2017 and 2018 than iPad usage did in 2010 and 2011." (Gartner Predicts 2014) Google™’s recent announcement of Hummingbird further augments these predictions – As stated by Google’s VP of Search, the goal was to create a more humanlike experience. Accompanied by Siri, Sherpa, Google Now, and other Personal Virtual Assistants, the future of interaction is self-service with enhanced humanlike capabilities.

We Live in a Mobile-Enabled World

In addition to these humanlike, self-service developments, the consumer demand for mobile devices has transformed the World Wide Web into the mobile web. In a recent Gartner survey (Source: Gartner: Survey Analysis: E-Commerce Customers Look to Cloud, Mobile and Transformational Change, July 2013, Fletcher, C., Alvarez G., et al.), “more than 48% of respondents plan to integrate mobile applications with their e-commerce storefronts, and more than 36% plan integrations for personalization.” Search is the top feature integrated into e-commerce platforms – more than 85% of respondents have integrated or have plans to integrate search capabilities; the top two focuses for future integration are mobile (48%) and personalization (36%).

Virtual Agents are designed to be light-weight applications that live in the cloud. They are easily optimized for mobile interaction, and can be accessed from a mobile phone application, mobile website, or even activated through scanning a QR code. They are also multi-channel, which means the technology can be leveraged across multiple channels such as: social media, in the call center, in stores or branches, as well as the web (internally for employees/externally for end customers) and mobile environments.

One of the challenges for organizations is creating a customer service experience that does not function in the same manner across all channels. In “Six Best Practices for CRM Web Customer Service Deployments” Gartner validates these points by stating “The biggest problem with most self-service solutions is when the transactional self-service solution (e.g., online ticket booking, online banking, etc.) does not have an equivalent supporting channel. If the customer needs assistance, then he or she often has to use the phone channel. This approach increases the number of calls into the call center, as opposed to reducing the number of calls, thus negating the potential savings from a reduction in incoming telephone calls.” (Source: Gartner: Six Best Practices for CRM Web Customer Service Deployments, 2012, Johan Jacobs).

A best practice for mobile strategy is to provide a customer service channel that complements the light-weight, easy to use, mobile format of the most popular devices. Similarly, create an optimized experience across various channels; for example: web, call center, social media, etc. Virtual Agents are not only ideal for these environments, but they are a part of a preferred multichannel customer experience.

Evidence in the Financial Industry

Computershare, a transfer agent that operates customer service centers for shareholder servicing for public companies and closed-end mutual fund companies, implemented a Virtual Agent in its Investor Centre in October of 2010. Brian Heffernan, Product Manager at Computershare said, “Whether it’s through Penny, the virtual agent, or her living kin conducting live chats, the overall effort is to eliminate or reduce electronic mail. We don’t want e-mails because, as any transfer agent will tell you, responding to an e-mail are the most costly method with which you could interface with a customer.” Heffernan continues by noting, “That’s because email does not generate its own responses. That requires not just a human, but a human skilled enough at responding properly—in a manner that not only fulfills the customer’s need, but also will stand up under scrutiny in a compliance review. Beyond that, responding by e-mail tends to invite … yet another e-mail from the customer. The multiple contacts ratchet up costs, dramatically. “Once it gets to the e-mail stage, it gets very expensive.”

Companies in various industries realize the importance of self-service, and not simple self-service; smarter self-service. Similar brands have also noted that a simple search would not be effective in the financial industry. There is definitely a need for enhanced and more humanlike conversation that one receives when interacting with an Artificial Intelligence (AI) that uses a Natural Language Processor (NLP) and Inference Engine (IE). Mr. Heffernan acknowledges, “This can get tricky. A person whose company offers a Dividend Reinvestment Plan might simply refer to it as a Drip, when typing out one of its widely used acronyms. The system has to know that the person is referring to a DRiP. And the system has to know that companies use different acronyms for the same thing. Like DRP. Or even DSPP (Direct Stock Purchase Plan).The ins-and-outs of complex subjects, like cost-basis accounting, have to be grouped and weighted, to help create more precise responses, automatically. Over time, the tool [Virtual Agent] gains experience and gets better.” (Source: 2011 Money Management Executive, By Tom Steinert- relkeld)

The Future

In the past, the standard for web self service was based on a simple search – for example: Google site search, basic Knowledge Management (KM) search, etc. The standard for websites has been based on pushing information to the public in a format that resembles an electronic brochure. The popularity of mobile devices, along with the shift of preferred customer service channels indicates that the future is Natural Language Processing and 2 way interaction channels. Based on much research and forward looking statements from leading analyst firms and experts, self-service projects achieve the highest Return On Investment (ROI) when leveraged across all channels and optimized for the right channel experience. Virtual Agents are a key component in a successful Web Customer Service strategy, as validated by industry experts.

References:

"The Recession Spurs Self Service: Help yourself" Economist, 2009. Retrieved October 2013

Gartner Research. (2012). Gartner Predicts 2012: CRM Customer Service and Support Staggers in the Posthuman Age. [Press Release] Retrieved fromhttp://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/1929014

Gartner Research "Bank Customers Still Love Branches, but Just Don't Use Them as Much" David Schehr, August 2013."

Gartner Research. (2013). Gartner Reveals Top Predictions for IT Organizations and Users for 2014 and Beyond. [Press Release] Retrieved fromhttp://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2603215

Gartner Research "Gartner: Survey Analysis: E-Commerce Customers Look to Cloud, Mobile and Transformational Change" Fletcher C., Alvarez G., et al. July 2013.

Gartner Research "Gartner: Six Best Practices for CRM Web Customer Service Deployments" Jacobs, J. 2013.

"A Penny Learned: How a Virtual Agent Gets Job Done." Money Management Executive, Tom Steinert-relkeld, 2011.

© Copyright noHold Inc. 2013 All other product and service names are the property of their respective owners.

Throwback Thursday: Self-Service Kiosks: The Past, Present, and Future

Photo Credit: IBM

Above is a picture of the world’s first self-service kiosk created by IBM who partnered with American Airlines, and American Express. It was used as an airline ticket vendor and received high praise from its test trial, with 99% of users saying they would use it again. IBM continued to create and make advancements to many self-service kiosks throughout the years and still to this day.

Today, many companies are coming up with ways to enhance what can be accomplished through self-service and they have come a long way since the first kiosk was introduced. Now self-service kiosks are popping up everywhere in the community – from grocery stores to DVD rentals, airports to train stations – people are demanding self-service to be an option. Just recently, a national pilot program for Peapod was implemented. Peapod is a mobile application for online grocery shopping. This program is setup in train stations across the US (where people typically have to wait long periods of time for the next train) and individuals step up to a specific panel on the train platform and downloads the Peapod app. They can then virtually grocery shop through aisles, pay online, and be done; quick and easy. That is essentially what the customer’s want; a quicker and easier way of doing everyday tasks. And with the sort of technology resources we have, why not make life a little more efficient.

“I really think the future holds many great possibilities. I think the ATM was the first instance where a person had the opportunity to interface with a piece of machinery, and that allowed that person then to be comfortable with interfacing to other pieces that came out since then—like PCs, as an example, and we all know the success of the PC. I think we’ re going to see much, much more of that happening in the future. I think people nowadays and in the future are going to have the opportunity to not only come up with a lot of new products but also to be able to use those products in ways they never dreamed of.”

-Don Wetzel, Co-patentee of the Automatic Teller Machine.

I agree with Wetzel, the future allows for infinite possibilities that can only be imagined right now. Eventually, a shift from self-service kiosks will move to be completely in the cloud. For example, already people rarely go into the bank. ATM’s are what people prefer to use, but slowly the need for ATM's will be unnecessary because of the cloud. People can deposit checks, transfer money, etc via digital devices. Pretty soon everything will be automated; you will be able to talk to a Virtual Agent and tell it what you want, and it can do it for you.

Do you envision a world were kiosks will live in the cloud? Or are there certain situations where the presence of a kiosk is needed?

Tell Us About Your Experience With a Virtual Agent/Virtual Assistant and Win a Free T-Shirt!

I hope everyone is having a great start to their week so far! Since Halloween just passed and the season of giving is upon us, we have decided it is time for another free giveaway contest! 

We want to know what your most memorable Virtual Agent experience is! This experience could be from a virtual personal assistants like Siri, or a company Virtual Agent geared towards customer service, support, or sales. It can be a funny moment or you can share about a time that you had exceptionally GREAT customer service via a Virtual Agent. For example, "I asked_______and the Virtual Agent answered _______."

Leave a comment with your most memorable moment on any of our social media channels...including this blog! Anyone can join 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/noHold

Twitter: https://twitter.com/noHoldAI 

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/nohold-inc.

The contest will start today (11/4) and end the following Sunday (11/10) at 11:59 PM. Winners will be chosen at random and receive a complementary "Albert is Okay" t-shirt! The winners will be announced and receive a message declaring their victory by end of day Monday (11/11). We have only three t-shirts to give away, but since the winners are picked randomly, it is worth it to post something to try and win! 

Remember to like us on Facebook//follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn!  

Good Luck!

*Rules and Regulations do apply, only ships to US and Canada*

*T-shirt sizes include only Medium, Large, and X-Large*

How to Turn Your Partner Program Into a Revenue Generator

Partners are an extension of your company, they add value to your offerings, and empower your brand. Providing them with 24x7 world-class service is equally as important as supporting your customers. 

Take a few minutes to see how one Virtual Agent created for your brand can be leveraged by all partners in your ecosystem.  Learn how one company in the medical field transformed a customer support Virtual Agent into a $5 Million return. 

Click Here to view the SlideShare Presentation: How to Turn Your Partner Program Into a Revenue Generator.

Self-Service for The Affordable Care Act

On Tuesday, October 1, 2013 the health exchanges opened for the first time. The White House expects 7 million uninsured people to sign up during the six-month enrollment period. According to a recent Yahoo News article (Healthcare Exchanges Open Tuesday: What You Need to Know), 45% of people polled by Kaiser said they had heard “nothing at all” about the health insurance marketplaces mandated by the law. News all over the nation encouraged participants to “call” and ask questions. The news casters reassured the public that call centers were ready to take their calls. And of course, callers to the federal call center reported long hold times.

https://www.healthcare.gov/

Typical Questions – but this is just the beginning

§  What is the health insurance exchange?

§  Do I have to buy health insurance on the exchange?

§  How much does it cost?

§  How do people enroll?

§  Can the insurance prices change?

§  Will the enrollment website work?

The high level pieces of information found in the media or on websites are challenging to interpret. The public, as well as businesses, are affected in different ways. For example, rates and regulations vary by state; rates can change; and when more information is necessary individuals can read the full law for more details. The general public will be forced to call.

Why Self-Service?

The White House expects 7 million uninsured to sign up during a 6 month enrollment period. This does not include the addition of millions of people who just want information about the law and visit the site for research purposes. It also does not include the frequent return visits to the site for clarification on what is covered.

Virtual Agents have long been used to reduce the load and cost of the typical call center by encouraging end users to help themselves. During peak seasons, new releases, and in times of the unknown, consumers ask questions that can often be resolved online. Since Virtual Agents have become more popular,  the public is more comfortable with using such technologies not only as personal assistants, but to find quick solutions for customer service, support, and shopping.

Benefits of a Virtual Agent/Self-Service

Health service providers, insurance carriers, and pharmaceutical companies are now empowered to leverage Virtual Agents to answer questions related to the new Affordable Care Act. Virtual Agents help these businesses and non-profit groups to:

§  Be ready for the call spikes, and questions related to the Affordable Care Act

§  Respond to questions that could have Legal implications if answered incorrectly.

§  Respond 24x7. Knowledge about healthcare is mandatory, and we need it right now; especially when it involves small children, the elderly, or those with pre-existing medical conditions.

§  Communicate in multiple languages. Although English is the native tongue in the United States, Spanish and Asian among other dialects account for a large majority of your audience.

§  Understand what the public wants to know. Leverage built in metrics to analyze the most Frequently Asked Questions, identify areas for growth, and take advantage of opportunities to learn more about your audience.

§  Adapt rapidly. Not only can Virtual Agents learn from conversations, but by implementing VAs on a website, changes can be made quickly. No need to wait for website publishing cycles - a secure login to the VA provides the opportunity to make instant updates easily.             

Trusted brands across various industries have implemented Virtual Agents to reduce call center costs, increase Customer Satisfaction, and capture actionable intelligence. In a recent survey, 88% of respondents agreed that self-service tools had a major impact on resolving issues, and would likely recommend self-service such as a Virtual Agent to others.

https://twitter.com/HealthCareGov

When live chat is unavailable, when the phone queue is too long, or for quick information and guided help, Virtual Agents are ready.

About noHold Inc.

noHold is a privately held company established in 1999 and is headquartered in Milpitas, CA, USA (Silicon Valley). noHold is the acknowledged leader in Virtual Agent solutions with a mission to deliver real answers to real questions - real fast. Simple to use, easy to implement and as close to human as you can get; noHold turns automated customer support into cognitive customer interaction. noHold customers include Cisco, Lenovo, Dell and a host of industry leaders.

Website:  www.nohold.com

Blog: http://noholdinc.blogspot.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/noHoldAI

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/noHold

Helpful Resources:

§  For more information about the Affordable Care Act visit US Department of Health & Human Services

§  Obamacare Enrollment: How do I sign up?http://finance.yahoo.com/news/obamacare-enrollment-sign-044100416.html

http://news.yahoo.com/health-care-exchanges-open-tuesday--what-you-need-to-know-221738118.html

© Copyright noHold Inc. 2013 All other product and service names are the property of their respective owners. This document is an independent publication and should be used for research purposes only. noHold is not affiliated with The US Government, The Affordable Care Act, or any other entity mentioned herein.

Throwback Thursday: Now and Then: Lenovo's eLounge vs. Disney's "Avatar Land"

Some might say I am a Disney fanatic, so I am really excited to share some interesting news… Walt Disney World in Florida is working on a new land to add to the Animal Kingdom called Pandora. It is a replica of the world of Pandora from the 2009 movie Avatar. They are creating this "Avatar Land" to be as interactive as possible, just like being inside a virtual world. It is as though the land is a living organism that responds to contact.  

With an abundant supply of technology and resources, I am sure the creators of Avatar and Disney are going to work together and create a memorable, interactive experience that their guest will be amazed by.

In 2009, Lenovo thought of a concept similar to the avatar land which they namedeLounge. This eLounge allows you to create your personal 3-D shopping experience online. You can create your own personal avatar, browse and interact with there virtual products, walk around and share your experience with customers from around the globe, and get support from virtual product specialists. Since eCommerce has sky rocketed in the past few years, having a virtual world that is interactive and collaborative will help complete the circle of the customer experience journey.

What I found interesting was the virtual avatar product specialist that is placed in the virtual shop. Implementing a virtual agent as a product specialist, will eliminate the need for human specialists to respond to every question. After all, a virtual world should have virtual agents, right?

Do you like the idea of online shopping, simulating an actual store? Would you like to communicate with other shoppers for advice and support? 

Happy Throwback Thursday!

Behind the Scenes: Creating an Avatar

Preface: I’m sitting down today with Stephany Ventura, Graphic Designer at noHold,Inc. for about 2 years now.  Besides creating websites, marketing collateral, etc., she also crafts avatars for some of our Virtual Agents! Before getting inside knowledge on how avatars are built, let us know a little bit about you.

Q: How did you get into Graphic Designing?

A: I always enjoyed art and I wanted to use my creative abilities to make money. I saw Graphic Design as an opportunity to love what I do every day.

Q: What is your favorite project to work on?

A: I would have to say creating poster are my favorite projects. They are not as technical and more engaging. There is more of a freedom to have fun, for example, I just created a Knowledge Management Superhero poster which was tons of fun to execute!

Q: Okay, let’s get into the juicy details that go into creating an avatar. First things first, what software do you use?

A: Personally, I use Adobe Creative Suite. I really like using Adobe Creative Suite because it includes multiple programs that are the best in the market.

Q: Where does the process of making an avatar take place?

A: Anywhere I can take my laptop really… my cube, Starbucks, in a field of wild dandelions.

--The only thing is, I can’t be in the water...

Q: Since you’ve been with noHold, how many avatars have you created in the past?

A: Too many to count… Ha-ha.

But really, since creating avatars is not my main focus, I have probably made a total of 7 avatars.

                                                               

 

These are a couple of the avatars I have created for clients. I designed an avatar with human features, that resembles a nurse (described on the right) and an avatar that takes on more of a robot feel (described on the left.) The robot avatar (on the left) is the latest noHold avatar I have created that is going to take part in a new charitable initiative we are participating in. Stay tuned for more information about the new initiative soon!

Q: From your experience, how long does it take you to complete one?

A:  Depends— developing the concept of an avatar is usually what takes time. Sometimes brainstorming multiple ideas is necessary and I have to find one that sticks out more than others. Other times I come up with a concept instantly and can start the technical aspects immediately.

Q: Speaking of concepts, how do you come up with the concept for the avatar?

A: The concepts for the avatars I create come from a lot of research. One of the first steps I take when starting this process, is to identify what company I am making an avatar for. I check out their company profile to get a feel for their branding, what message they are trying to convey and the overall imaging.

I am currently in the midst of birthing an avatar for a company in the medical field. I came up with the design to have an avatar that resembles a nurse. I then pull the colors from the company website and the rest just falls into place. (See above for example.)

Q: Is there anyone/anything that inspires you to come up with the ideas?

A: One of my inspirations for creating avatars is the movie Avatar. I just pop that DVD in and my juices start flowing. Ha-ha.

Just kidding, like I said earlier, my number one inspiration would have to be the customer. I can come up with a bunch of ideas, but if it does not mirror the company’s image it will look awkward on their site and end users might get confused. Branding is an important aspect of creating an avatar for a specific company.

Q: Everyone knows about writers block, but do you every get designer’s block and if so where do you go for ideas?

A: When I feel like I am stuck I typically go to my colleagues for input. Really just talk about design suggestions and bouncing ideas off each other really helps me get back in the creative zone. Feedback is super valuable because when you work on something for so long, it is good to get a fresh perspective.

Q: So, noHold develops Virtual Agent software for customer support and sales, but Virtual Agents don’t NEED to have avatars for them to function. Why does your company create avatars for the Virtual Agents?

A: Well you are right; having an avatar to represent the Virtual Agent is only for aesthetic value. But I think it is an important because it gives the Virtual Agent a personality. We try to not only make the Virtual Agent visually appealing, but we also add character to how the Virtual Agent can answer. For example, in our old noHold Virtual Agent, Holmes, he was able to output funny remarks when given the right context. We have to think about who is using the Virtual Agent…end users. Having an avatar present produces a more interactive, engaging, and memorable experience for them. Here is an example of an avatar enhancing the Virtual Agent. The avatar makes it feel like you are talk to a person.

Q: And I have to know, do clients typically have preferences, such as male or female avatars?

A: The media showcases females as being friendly and helpful. I know it sounds silly since it is essentially a cartoon character, but studies have shown that a female’s face is perceived as warm; and is reminiscent of warm cookies and milk from Grandma. One example that comes to mind is from another vendor in our space – recently, one of their clients changed the avatar to a female version.

Thanks for taking the time to sit down and give us the skinny on avatars, Stephany. If anyone has any questions about creating avatars, feel free to leave a comment below and we will get back to you within 24 hours.  

Throwback Thursday: ASIMO re-invents himself!

I was doing some research on Artificial Intelligence (AI) this week and came acrossASIMO, the humanoid robot created by Honda in October of 2000. ASIMO is an acronym for Advanced Step in Innovation MObility. It was designed to be a multi-functional mobile assistant. If you want to check out ASIMO live, take a quick trip to Disneyland where you can find ASIMO inside Innoventions located in Tomorrowland. 

In 2011, Honda re-introduced a new version of ASIMO that displayed significant advancements. Honda wanted to move ASIMO from an "automatic machine" to an "autonomous machine." Before they could do that, they had to identify factors that were mandatory for ASIMO to be an autonomous machine. "...1) high-level postural balancing capability which enables the robot to maintain its posture by putting out its leg in an instant, 2) external recognition capability which enables the robot to integrate information, such as movements from people around it, from multiple sensors and estimate the changes that are taking place, and 3) the capability to generate autonomous behavior which enables the robot to make predictions from gathered information and autonomously determine the next behavior without being controlled by an operator."

Honda robotics is not the only company doing research on robotic technology and Artificial Intelligence(AI). The US Army, IBM, MIT, etc. all are still making great strides in the AI space. It is great to still see research and developments being done continuously because intelligent machines are something that can always be improved upon. AI is only as good as the brain that makes it function. 

SICURA(TM) is noHold's latest knowledge management(KM) platform. We have enhanced our platform to provide our clients with multiple tools and applications that will in turn benefit their consumers. This platform coupled with a Virtual Agent gives companies the ability to deliver answers to the questions they have.

 KM is part of a bigger picture and can benefit from utilizing Artificial Intelligence. Each year, AI is making significant advancements. IBM's Watson was able to compete and win in the game show Jeopardy, beating out 2 other humans. (This was back in 2011 as well.) 

Have you seen ASIMO in action? Do you think Virtual Assistants will soon employ factors mandatory to be classified as an autonomous machine such as external recognition capability, or capability to make intelligent predictions? 

Happy Throwback Thursday!